Outlander Stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe on Their Favorite Costumes and Sets

Outlander fans can be transported back to 18^th century Paris and get a closer look at the gorgeous costumes and set designs for the hit STARZ series, which are on display as part of the The Artistry of Outlander exhibit, now at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills.

Parade.com was invited to an opening-night preview and Q&A with series stars Sam Heughan (Jamie Frazer) and Caitriona Balfe (Claire), costume designer Terry Dresbach, production designer Jon Gary Steele and executive producers Maril Davis and Ronald D. Moore to talk about the massive amount of work that went into recreating Paris circa 1745 – and to reveal their favorite costumes and sets.

Check out the photo gallery to get a first-hand look at what the exhibit contains.

“The brothel is incredible,” Heughan said on the red carpet. “I actually grew to hate it, though, because even though it’s magnificent, we were shooting there in the summer and it was hot, so we were boiling. But it was just so sumptuous. I loved the mannequins on the wall, the screens that you can see people behind. It’s very sexy and mysterious.”

Steele is also a fan of the brothel with its special touches and color palette, but for him, the set that stands out the most is the Star Chamber, the circular room where Claire was forced by King Louis XV (Lionel Lingelser) to determine if either Master Raymond (Dominique Pinon) or Comte St. Germain (Stanley Weber) were practicing black magic.

“It’s a mystical, secret room in Versailles Palace, in our mind, anyway,” Steele said. “And I wanted to have a dome that’s pierced with light, so that when Claire walks through the secret doors into this room, shafts of light hit her face and dress.”

It was also a pricey room, but well worth it, as it definitely helped Balfe take on her persona as La Dame Blanche. She says, “The Star Chamber was amazing, and we used it for one scene. It was a very long scene, but just one scene, which was insane. It was so beautiful.”

As for favorites when it comes to costumes, fans may favor Claire’s stunning red dress or King Louis’ mistress’ nipple dress, but both Balfe and Dresbach love what they call the Dior dress.

Dresbach explains, “Claire is a woman from the 1940s, and Caitriona and I worked very, very hard to retain that [identity] through Season One. Claire was given all of the clothes she wore in Season 1, but in Season 2, she actually went to a dressmaker. I looked at all of these fancy, frilly costumes and went, ‘It’s not her. I can’t do that with her. It’s not going to work.’ So I started looking to the ’40s and the most quintessential costume of the 1940s. Probably the most well-known fashion-piece ever is the Dior Bar Suit, which is what this is.”

Balfe agrees that the interpretation of the Dior Bar Suit for Claire is one of the outstanding pieces of the season. She says, “I love so much how it is [Claire], a woman from the ’40s in the 18th century.” But it isn’t her only favorite. She adds, “Dressage, as we call it, is a gorgeous embroidered number that Claire wears when Black Jack first sees Jamie at Versailles. Also, the dress I wore in the Star Chamber.”

Heughan recalls expressing some concern about Jamie’s wardrobe to Dresbach when Jamie and Claire were off to Paris. He was concerned about all the frills and fripperies that men wore back then, so he was happy when she put him in the simple black suit.

“It’s Jamie’s work suit, so to speak,” he says. “It’s a reflection of his character. It felt like Jamie is a shadow of himself in the first half of the season. The black suit really reflected that for me.”

Dresbach and her team of 70 made more than 10,000 garments this season, which includes everything from top to toe: hats, gowns, suits, nightwear, and shoes and boots.

“The untold story of this season is the craftsmanship,” Dresbach says, indicating the the exquisite embroidery and hand-painted fabrics her staff was responsible for that are on display.

“There is so much detail that goes into the costumes, but the set as well,” Heughan said, wrapping things up. “I went to look at the exhibit today. I’ve seen these costumes, I’ve seen these sets, but to actually see them without the actors in them, they were so much more. They add so much to the story, so for the viewer watching, you get so much information from these sets and costumes that you are not even aware of.”

The Artistry of Outlander exhibit at the Paley Center for Media will run throughout the summer and will take visitors into 18^th century Parisian society, where they will be able to view iconic costumes designed by Emmy® Award-winning Costume Designer Terry Dresbach as well as actual set pieces from Outlander production designer Jon Gary Steele, life-size episodic photography, and behind-the-scenes video segments.